This 1974 Ducati 750 Sport is taken from over 350 miles of test riding after we re-restored a lot of the machine. You can read about the work we did to this motorcycle here, which any dealer or auction house would have been proud to sell as it was. This is the type of work that needs doing to these machines, due to age, and going through a period where they had little value and owners just would not spend the money required to keep them in excellent condition. Having said that, once these machines are correctly set up, they cost very little to do the maintenance on and will keep going for 100,000 miles between rebuilds. The round case Ducatis have a fantastic history which you can hear about here in my interview 1 (the video is embedded on the right hand side of the page) with Ian Falloon from about 3 minutes onwards. There will never be a time like it again, where Ducati made a loss on every single motorcycle and it was written off by the Italian government.
Fantastic classic motorcycle
The 750 Sport, and entire round case range, provide a fantastic classic motorcycle that covers everything a rider could want. The GT750 is a great everyday motorcycle you can tour on, the Green frame is an out and out sports motorcycle which won Imola in legendary style piloted by Paul Smart. The 750 Sport is not far behind the Green Frame and pretty much produces the same power at 62 BHP compared to 70 BHP for the Green Frame (that 62 BHP easily feels like 100 BHP, because the bike is so fast). The Sport has high compression slipper pistons and normal valve springs whereas the Green Frame has Desmodromic valves, giving the extra power. Due to the bevel drive, which operates the camshafts, these little V twins will safely rev out to 8,250 RPM and pull cleanly from tick over. The Sport is very rare indeed, with only 1625 ever produced worldwide. The motorcycle looks perfect, and that round case motor is just a work of art. The orange bodywork is just so perfectly stylish and the motorcycle has an Art Deco feel about the design. It looks fast whilst it’s parked up and turns heads everywhere it goes. Once the motor starts and peoples windows rattle there will not be a pair of eyes not focused on it.
Incredible to ride
The 750 Sport is incredible to ride and it’s a good job I didn’t own one when I was young or I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale. It’s small, I’m 5’10” and it fits me really snugly, but if you’re well over six foot you’ll be cramped. But with the 750 Sport none of that matters once you’ve ridden it. The clip ons make you squat, the Conti silencers roar, the earth shakes beneath your feet, but there’s little vibration through the bike, although it feels alive. As you pull away the 32 mm Delortto carbs hiss, gulping air viciously and urging the rider to open the throttle wide. The power is smooth and the delivery rigid thanks to the bevel drives, there’s no softness or delay from the motor. As the oil and motor heat up and offer approval for wider throttle openings, the tiny machine makes you feel like Paul Smart, or James Bond out running a psychopathic villain. The urge to tuck your elbows in, crouch down and open that throttle up to release the symphony of those two cylinders just becomes irresistible. This bike will make you break speed limits alarmingly regularly, yet it feels so safe and stable.
Superb handling
The 750 Sport offers superb handling, even by today’s high standards. The bike is compact and light, you’ll take your favourite corners faster than ever before and think your on the bike’s limits. However, when I looked at the pictures when we were photographing the bike, I was surprised to see how much further over this motorcycle would go. This little motorcycle will make you a far better rider than you ever dreamed, because it handles so beautiful and encourages he best of our bad behaviour. The rider feels invincible, like James Bond, and the bike enhances your capabilities. It’s one of those machines which make you feel like you felt when you were a teenager and rode your first motorcycle, it’s addictive. I personally can’t stand motorcycles with clip on bars, due to my age and my back, but I can’t stop riding the Ducati 750 Sport.
Incredible brakes
The Ducati 750 Sport round case has incredible brakes. This one had Brembo twin front discs and most were fitted with single Scarab front calipers. The Scarabs were Italian copies of the Lockheed racing calipers and they are both great brakes which offer more than enough to keep you safe while you misbehave. The brakes offer plenty of feel and more than enough stopping power. The chassis copes admirably with the brakes and braking while going into corners is fine, a little squeeze on the front brake helps the front end to dig in. The rear brake is a drum item which offers more than enough for the rear end and delivers plenty of feel too.
Beautiful motor
The 750 Sport has a beautiful motor which is like a giant Patek Philippe watch and looks like a work of art. It’s all aluminium, so there’s no issues of mixed metals expanding at different rates. The overhead camshafts are driven by a pair of bevel drives, one per cylinder, which allows these motors to rev out to 8,250 RPM, which is incredible for the era. It doesn’t make these motors peaky, they pull really beautifully from tick over, but the entire bike encourages you to ride like the demon that you really are deep down. The motor, once up to operating temperature, will rev out to the limit effortlessly and without wanting to explode. When you open this demon up to overtake traffic the confidence it inspires elicit mischief in the rider, because it does everything so well. The Conti silencers rattle any glass in its frame, you’ll see shop windows offering a shimmering image as they vibrate when you pass them. When you put your foot down at traffic lights, you’ll feel the sound vibrate like an erupting volcano through the sole of your foot which is on the ground. Once you get used to the 750 Sport, you won’t want to ride anything else because it is the very essence of motorcycling.
The essence of classic motorcycles
The Ducati 750 Sport round case is the essence of classic motorcycles, it is pure motorcycling hedonism for petrol heads. The bike looks like a work of art, and it rides even better than it looks. Owners spend tens of thousands of pounds trying to make Vincents go like the 750 Sport and they won’t get close. When you ride a Ducati 750 Sport round case you will fall in love, because there is nothing else on earth like it. The styling draws the eye into the machine and every proportion, every shape, every feature is designed to go as fast as possible and to look as spectacular as possible. It draws the eye into the motorcycle and invites it to rest there a while and appreciate how wonderfully executed the entire machine is. We featured this 1974 Ducati 750 Sport in our page The Motorcycle as Art because everything is so perfect and beautifully thought out; it’s just right.
Charisma
The Ducati 750 Sport oozes charisma and baits the owner to take it for just one more ride, to push it just that little bit harder and it will never let you down. This is not a motorcycle that will get you into trouble and let you down, it will make you a better rider than you ever believed possible. It gives plenty of warning if you’re getting close to its limits and always offers more than the rider thought possible. It turns heads everywhere it goes and looks quite at home amongst older Ferraris as it has that charm and charisma the cars of the 1950s and 60s had. This is one of my favourite motorcycles, I do have a few favourites, but this one is a top choice of mine. Very few motorcycles have been got this right over the last hundred and forty odd years. It demands attention and accolades very few classic motorcycles are worthy of.
Patek Philippe of classic motorcycles
The Ducati 750 Sport is the Patek Philippe of classic motorcycles. Not a modern one, but this is like the Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime 6300A-010 which sold for $31.19 million in more ways than one It is not in yer face, it’s reserved, and as you look at it the design draws you in more and more as the awe rises in the observer of such a masterpiece. It’s subtle, not obvious and at its heart lies unimaginable engineering that will never be repeated again in history. It’s incredibly rare, but its value is not defined by its rarity, its value becomes obvious as you get to know it. The Ducati 750 Sport motor alone used to take a day and a half to build when new at the factory, which you can read about here.
Brilliant investment
The Ducati 750 Sport round case is a brilliant investment because it is rare, a little under the radar and a whole heap of fun to own and ride. Although prices have risen fiercely over the last twelve years, there’s plenty more to come from these little beauties. They’re incredibly rare, often forged and faked, hardly ever investment grade and always need a lot of work to bring up to investment grade condition. Once this is done, though, they are incredibly reliable and great fun to own and ride. Correct, investment grade examples will fly easily into six figures over the next five years because there are more of them getting back out on the road and awareness is being raised of this stunning motorcycle’s existence. If you can’t go for a Green Frame, then this is very close indeed and just as beautiful. Green Frames will go to seven figures and then take off from there over time, so the 750 Sport will not be far behind them. Not only is this a great investment, it is a fantastic classic motorcycle. Writing this 1974 Ducati 750 Sport road test has been an immense pleasure, because the motorcycle itself is perfect. This is the perfect investment grade classic motorcycle once all of the work has been done. Where ever you find one of these splendid machines, they need to be authenticated and they need a lot of work doing to them. Once all of that is taken care of, they are fantastic classic motorcycles.
Investment grade Ducati 750 Sport round case
If you want an investment grade Ducati 750 Sport round case call The motorcycle Broker. There are no bargains out there, because owners know what they have and they know how rare these machines are. Once you have a beautifully original, authenticated example, then the hard work begins. You have to chase out the years of poor workmanship and to set these up correctly, as we did with this machine featured here and you can see the work we had to do here, even though the bike looked perfect. Looking for bargains is a foolish and expensive way to buy into these machines, it’s just cheaper to buy one from us on a fixed price contract with all the work done prior to delivery, along with all the test riding. If you want one of these stunning machines, then give us a call for a no pressure discussion.
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